The Price of Survival
by demonflower
Summary: Once Harry defeats Voldemort in the final battle, he thinks he will finally achieve peace. However, a drastic event occurs which will change him forever. HD, Vampire Harry
1. Starting at an end

**The Price of Survival**

**By Eva Simone**

**Rating:** I'd say PG-13 to R

**Pairings:** Harry/Draco, yes my lovelies, this will be slash

**Disclaimer:** Characters and settings within are based on characters and situations created and owned by JK Rowling, various publishers including but not limited to Bloomsbury Books, Scholastic Books, Raincoat Books, and Warner Bros., Inc. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended. Besides, even if I wanted to, the opportunity to polyjuice into JK and claim I invented the potterverse would never come up.

And a big hooray goes out to my lovely beta, k.

**Chapter One**

There were green flashes flying all over the battlefield, making those on the side of light drop like flies. The cacophony of curses, the screams of the tortured and the moans of the wounded and dying blanketed the area with a surreal aura of pain that threatened to overcome them all. All but the un-dead and Harry Potter. He ignored the incredible pain in his scar as he crept up behind Voldemort who was too engrossed in casting Cruciatus on his old foe Dumbledore to notice anyone sneaking up behind him.

Harry's mind was focused as he raised the gun from his side and brought it up behind Voldemort's head. He paused for only a second before he pulled the trigger, blasting Voldemort's brains over the surrounding area and fulfilling the prophecy. Harry's surroundings suddenly seemed as though someone had filmed the battle and was playing it in slow motion. He could hear nothing but the blast of the gun as he killed the person who had ruined his life. He was overcome by an unfamiliar feeling of peace that had escaped his grasp for as long as he could remember. In this tentative moment of peace, he failed to notice the creature slowly walking up behind him, or the soft breath ghosting across his neck before sharp fangs pierced the soft flesh covering his jugular.

He was instantly brought out of his reverie by the sudden pain. He struggled in vain to escape the strong arms which held him captive as his blood was sucked from his body. He kicked; he shoved and did everything possible to pull himself from his captor's grasp. After a while he ceased trying to escape as the loss of blood was weakening his strength and resolve. It seemed as though fate had other plans for him than he himself had in mind. Life didn't really seem to be a part of his destiny's agenda. With this resigned thought in his mind, Harry slipped out of consciousness.

**ooooo**

It was at that moment that those on both sides of the battle noticed their leaders slumped against the ground. The Death Eaters, fearing their fates with the Ministry now that the Dark Lord had been defeated, began apparating as far away as they could. The Aurors only managed to stun a few before the only ones left on the battlefield were the forces of Light, the fallen, and various magical creatures. Before anyone could forget the creatures of Voldemort's forces, Charlie Weasley's voice rang out, yelling his comrades to kill or capture them before anyone else was killed. In the fierce and almost joyous resurging of the fight, Remus Lupin made his way past the leader of the Order towards the young man he considered his son, fearing for his safety. As he worked his way towards the centre of the battlefield he noticed a slender, feminine figure bent over his young charge.

He rushed forwards, wand raised, and hoped that nothing un towards had happened to Harry. He reached them just as the youthful looking woman stood and looked over at Remus with a cold-blooded smile twisting its way across her features. Remus felt his heart drop down from his chest as he realised what she was. The vampire gracefully ran off and swiftly disappeared from view into the surrounding forest. His gut twisted as he looked down at Harry, lying prone in the mud. There were bloodstains drying along his neck, contrasted greatly by the paleness of his complexion and the blackness of the hair framing his face. But this is not what scared Remus the most. It was the blood upon his smooth lips, and, when opened, in his mouth that brought back the feelings of horror from when Remus himself was bitten by a werewolf; memories that threatened to overwhelm him. How could this happen to one who had done so much to save the world from destruction? Harry had sacrificed his life for the greater good of the world and now, fate had dealt this sickening blow. To have this "life" of darkness thrust upon him was just not fair.

Before Remus could break down with the injustice of it all, he created a barrier around Harry, as he did not want him hurt before the Order could perform the ritual to keep his soul. As soon as Remus had done this he looked up to see how everyone was faring as they finished this awful battle. There were less and less charms and hexes flying and the fight was dying down. He called out to Charlie, whom he had gotten closer to over the war, and gestured for him to join them. Charlie had just turned towards them when a nearby troll was relieved of his bat by someone who was fighting them, and it flew over and hit Charlie hard on the back of his head, cracking his skull in two.

"NOOOOO!" Remus screamed, running over to his friend. As he knelt down beside him, Remus finally broke down and fell to his knees in a state of shock; brought on by seeing too many of his friends die fighting evil. With Sirius and Arthur, Kingsley and Mundungus and all the acquaintances in between, and then seeing Harry lying there in the mud, blood on his neck and in his mouth, it was all too much to take. He sat, staring unseeingly at the macabre scene in front of him, and his brain shut off.

**ooooo**

Severus Snape walked swiftly along the entrance hall of his chilly home as soon as he had apparated from the battle, unable to stay for fear of some irksome Ministry Auror mistaking him for a loyal servant of the Dark Lord. It was with a sigh of relief that he removed his Death Eater mask for the last time. The robe, though, was not so revolting to him, its billowing monochrome matching most of the garments in his wardrobe. A wardrobe filled with black robes and capes, as extensive as his veritable wardrobe of matching scowls, sneers and glares. It was always the best way to accessorise.

When he thought of the downfall of Voldemort, he almost laughed at the divine justice of killing the pureblood loving mudblood with a muggle weapon. If the Dark Lord still lived he would have screeched at the injustice of it all before finding some unsuspecting victim to serve as a sounding board for a few rounds of crucio before making some other ridiculous, unfeasible plan for the capture, torture and death of the Potter boy.

The Potter boy. Well, young man really. Severus scowled as he grudgingly gave his respect to the lad for ridding the world of Voldemort's megalomaniac menace. It certainly did not mean that he'd slack off on the boy during his classes, as Potions was an art, and Potter only had the finesse of a six-year-old's errant scribbles with a crayon. Had that know-it-all Granger not prodded him along so much, he would not be still in the NEWT level class.

It was with these musing running through his mind that Severus made his way into the gloomy sitting room, lighting a fire in the neglected hearth before striding wearily towards his much-loved liquor cabinet and pouring himself a well deserved shot or two of a fine Firewhiskey and sat down tiredly on the couch before the fire. It had been a long battle and quite hard to fight his "fellow" Death Eaters without them noticing, and at the same time try to avoid the curses flowing from the side of light, unable, as usual, to distinguish him behind the mask he wore. He silently berated himself from his downward train of thought, as this was a time to celebrate. Or, at least, a time where his life was in no further danger than one of Longbottom's legendary exploding cauldrons bringing about his early demise. Finally, Severus thought, it was a time to rest. How little did he know.

**ooooo**

It was a few minutes later when the battle was finally over. The ministry Aurors had taken any remaining Death Eaters to the Ministry lockup cells until they could await their trials, before being handed over to Azkaban. The exhausted members of the Order of the Phoenix now had the chance to make their way to where the turning point of the war had occurred. Tonks was the first to arrive, her hair the subdued brown she had worn for battle. As soon as she saw Harry's bloody body she called out to the nearest person.

"Minerva! Get here quickly!" she shouted over her shoulder to the stern older woman.

"What seems to be the matter with him?" Minerva replied, walking swiftly from Albus who was now being taken care of by mediwizards towards the metamorphagus, who was bent over Harry, checking for a pulse, and then, with great trepidation, checking the inside of his mouth.

"I think that he's been turned," Tonks replied, her face ashen, "look at his neck, Minerva, he's lost a lot of blood, and there's more, here, in his gob."

"I hate to agree with you, Tonks, but that does seem to be the case," Minerva added, "We must get him back to Poppy as soon as we can."

"Why not St Mungo's? They'd have more experience with that type of thing, surely."

"Yes, but can you imagine what the _Daily_ _Prophet _would make of it? 'The-Boy-Who-Lived-Forever'! Plus, they'll have their hands full with Albus. And we must do the ritual so he can keep his soul," Minerva reprimanded.

"Quickly, then. Apparate him outside the wards and get him to the Hospital Wing. I'll gather the others, and we'll see about organising the ritual. You just get him to Poppy as quickly as you can."

"Sure thing, boss." Tonks replied, before grabbing a hold of Harry's cold body and apparating them to the road leading to Hogwarts.

**ooooo**

"POPPY!" Tonks yelled, running through the darkened corridors of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. She clumsily barrelled through the swinging doors of the Infirmary, shouting for the Matron. Poppy Pomfrey bustled briskly toward the sounds of Tonks' urgent shouting.

"What is this? Who is that?!" Poppy replied, and then she saw who was miraculously held up in the young witch's arms, "quickly, this bed over here."

"No, he'll be in need of an isolation room, Poppy, one without windows." Tonks gravely countered, "As we think he may have been turned." The Matrons eyes widened at the news, but she quickly took it in stride, and showed Tonks to an isolation chamber off the main area of the wing. Tonks placed him carefully onto the bed then stretched her back, spine cracking from the effort of carrying the seventeen year old from halfway between Hogsmeade and Hogwarts. It was a wonder she, undoubtedly one of the clumsiest witches in existence, hadn't tripped.

Poppy came into the room, a grave look on her face, wand in one hand and various vials of potions in the other. As she walked up to Harry, she began querying the metamorphagus.

"When did this happen? If he has been turned, we only have 36 hours before he wakes, and when he does, he'll be hungry."

"I'm not quite sure, but within the hour, as it must have happened after he defeated You-Know-Who. Minerva and I only found him twenty minutes ago, and he was cold by then. But it must have been within the hour Poppy, but how could this happen to him? I mean he just killed You-Know-Who! He's only seventeen! It's not fair!" Tonks answered.

"He killed He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named! Thank heaven above! Oh, the poor thing! He's been through so much," Poppy clucked, "he's always been here for one thing or another! Be it that dratted Quidditch or some ridiculous adventure...and with no family either! Poor thing," She continued on, and she checked him over for injuries. There wasn't much she could do as he was technically dead and therefore unable to take any potions. She would just have to wait.

"Now, now Poppy, lets just let him be, and then we'll go and check on the others, I'm sure you'll be inundated with people coming from the final battle," Tonks distracted her, before carefully tucking the covers over Harry's cold body and walking out of the room. She worriedly looked over her shoulder at the still young man before closing and locking the door safely behind them.

**ooooo**

Minerva sighed as she looked around the field in which the final battle was fought. The carnage was spread over the acreage, fallen friends, foes and beasts together in their deaths. The cries of the wounded were less now, as the mediwizards and witches carted them off to the crowded wards of St Mungo's. She glanced over at Charlie Weasley, who died such an unnecessary death, and hoped it was the last death she would have to witness of her dear students. She may be strict with them, but after teaching them for seven years and watching them grow into strong young men and women, she grew quite attached to them. Especially those on her Quidditch team like that poor young man Harry, or his famous seeker predecessor, Charlie. She just wondered how Molly Weasley was going to cope with this further death in her family. After Arthur was killed by a sudden Death Eater attack at the Ministry, her elder boys, Bill and Charlie, had been helping her so much.

It was times like these that Minerva McGonagall was very glad that she didn't have children.

**ooooo**

Back at the Hogwarts Infirmary, Poppy went to check on her current charges before any more injured were brought to her while Tonks went down to the Entrance Hall to meet up with Minerva. She currently had only two under her care, Draco Malfoy and Ron Weasley. Despite the trend of previous years, the young men were not recovering from a heated fistfight, but from injuries sustained in the War.

The youngest Weasley boy was not faring well. He had been in the infirmary for a week already and his injury was not easy to treat. He had been caught up in an unexpected raid at the Ministry while he had been there helping his father with the unbelievable backlog of work which had occurred since Voldemort's rise. He had been fighting alongside his father when he was struck with a nasty curse on his left leg. An obscure Dark Arts curse, it degenerated all the tissue on the affected limb. Poppy had been unable to reverse the curse, and it was too late by the time the Potions Master arrived, and they had had to amputate. The infection had been hard to treat and she had only just been able to save him.

As Poppy went over to check on Ron's vitals, she noticed that he was stirring, and hurried over to him. It was the first time he had shown any real signs of life since he had been admitted. He mumbled something incoherent and wearily blinked open his eyes as she walked over to his side with a nutrient potion in her grasp.

"Where am I?" Ron muttered before noticing the white walls and iron bedstead of the hospital wing, "why 'm I here?" he corrected, directing this latest missive at the Matron.

"You've been here to heal up, Mr. Weasley," Poppy informed him, "now drink this up before you ask me anything else," she admonished, before bringing the vial up to his lips.

"What day is it?" Ron asked, now that he had drunk the contents of the vial. He was starting to feel a little more awake now.

"You've been in here for a week, Mr. Weasley, so today would be Monday. Now just wait there one moment before I tell you anything further." Poppy left his bedside and quickly made her way into her office. She grabbed a bit of floo powder and went to fire talk to Mrs. Weasley. The green flames whooshed and she put a call in to The Burrow.

"Molly, Ronald has just woken up, if you would like to come through the fire, please?" Poppy called into the Weasley's lounge room, before Molly hurried over and made her way into the Infirmary.

"How long has he been up Poppy?" Molly asked as she made her way into Poppy's office and bustled towards her son.

"Just a few minutes, dear, I thought you'd be the one who should tell him about Arthur," she said sympathetically, "and Harry has killed You-Know-Who! I always knew he had it in him."

"He has! I'm so glad he got rid of him. Well, that should cheer Ron up considerably," Molly answered just before she reached the curtain around her youngest son's bed.

**ooooo**

In a cold gothic mansion on the outskirts of London, a chillingly beautiful woman walked confidently across polished hardwood floors, through a huge arched doorway into a richly decorated library, full of tomes of curses and first editions of valuable literary works from across the world. She made her way past the large mahogany desk and deep crimson velvet drapes over the windows to the crackling fireplace where she gracefully sat on the lap of an extremely handsome young-looking man. A victorious smile graced her elegant features before she passionately kissed her companion, never tiring of his presence.

"It has been done, my love, I have sired the infamous young man, he shall be ours," the woman proclaimed, making her lover smile deviously along with her, "his blood was so delicious my love; it pulsed with power and innocence." She licked her lips in ecstasy in remembrance of the sweet blood of the Boy-Who-Lived.

"You have done well, my love," the man growled, "now give me a taste of it." He sunk his teeth deeply into his lover's porcelain neck and drank as she arched her back at the glorious intimacy of their passion.

**Please review, it makes my day!**


	2. Ignorance is bliss, I'm in Hell

**I'd like to thank my wonderful reviewers, fudgebaby, SerenaMacBeth, Immortal Memories and ssjmiratrks ****for giving me incentive to keep writing this story.**

**This is a repost with pov breaks (Yay!)**

**And now for the second chapter...******

**Chapter Two**

Minerva had gathered the members of the Order after the final battle was finally cleared up, and the wounded were all getting treated for their injuries. She hated to do this, they were all so weary after everything they had been through over the past month, or if she was really being honest, the past few years. They all deserved a well-earned rest, but she had to do this before they all lost their drive.

They sat together quietly around the familiar kitchen table at 12 Grimmaud Place, each nursing their own thoughts as they awaited the last two remaining members, except for Molly, who was off talking to her youngest boy. They soon heard the hearth light up and Tonks arrive, she had changed her hair from the battle brown to a happier, yet somewhat toned down purple, her willingness to have her hair a natural colour gone as soon as the battle was done. She clumsily stumbled towards the table, grabbing a cup of tea and a biscuit or two before seating herself next to the sad figure of Bill Weasley. Losing a father and a brother in the space of a week wasn't the best thing to have to go through.

The only person yet to show up was Severus, and the others were onto their second cup of tea by the time he came into the kitchen from the fireplace and sat himself wearily down, scowl still firmly attached to his face. Seeing that everyone was still staring off into space, or seemingly doing a Trelawney and gazing at their tealeaves, Severus decided to remind them that they were waiting for a meeting to begin, not in a divination class.

"Well?" He snapped, knowing his blunt manner would piss most of them off, but not caring, as he wanted this meeting over as soon as possible, so he could get back to his Firewhiskey that was awaiting him by his hearth. Minerva raised her eyebrows at him, but seemed to take his prompt as intended.

"I call this meeting of the Order of the Phoenix into session. First, I want to congratulate you all on a job well done. However, I am afraid that although we have won this war, there is still quite a bit that we must do." Minerva looked gravely around at her compatriots and waited until all their attention was focused on her.

"We must do all we can to gather the remaining Death Eaters that apparated away once their master was killed. Alastor, would you and your team start doing that as soon as this meeting is over?" Alastor nodded his agreement, ignoring the weary sighs of his team who had been hoping to get home and rest. Minerva then sighed, not wanting to have to be the one to deliver her next pieces of news.

"We have lost a great deal in this war, and we must honour the fallen in whichever way we can. We lost a great friend last night, and I just hope that wherever he is now, Charlie Weasley is happy." Here, she paused to wipe her eyes as one silent tear ran down her cheek. She looked over at Bill, who looked over at her sadly, and nodded at her to continue.

"But Charlie is not the only one to have fallen tonight." There was a gasp around the room as everyone looked around them to see who was missing. Then Moody noticed that Molly was not there, and asked quietly, "Molly?"

"No, luckily the Weasley family has not directly lost another, although I doubt they welcome this news. After killing Voldemort, Harry Potter was turned."

The room went into uproar at the announcement, only Tonks and Remus unsurprised, and Severus only staying quiet out of habit. Indignation at the unfairness of it all made up most of the first wave of comments, but then mutterings about what he could do as the next Dark Lord arose. Minerva raised her hand for quiet, and eager for information, the others obliged.

"There is, however, a way to make sure Harry will retain his soul. Although this ritual is usually used as a curse, we should be able to so this without detriment because he has not really begun his life as a vampire yet. It is a little known and requires six people close to the victim. It must be done within the next 24 hours, as there is only 36 hours between turning and rising. Those who participate in this must go home now to rest, as it is quite draining and we are all very tired. Most of us here are quite close to Harry, but if I could have some volunteers who have the energy? Remus? Tonks? Bill? Good. Molly and myself will be joining them. We only need one more person." Here, she paused and looked pointedly at Severus, who looked back at her, and, somewhat reluctantly, nodded. "Good. Now all of you go home and get some sleep, I'll need you to meet me outside the Hogwarts Infirmary in 12 hours. "

With this, she turned and walked out of the kitchen. Those remaining started muttering again once she had left, and as Severus got up to leave, he glared at everyone. "Need you be reminded that what is said in this room stays in this room. The war may be over but it is no reason to become gossips when this information could be detrimental to everything we have worked for." As he turned to go, he overheard someone muttering about not being first years. As Severus walked out the door he glanced over his shoulder and said, "If you act like first years, I shall treat you as first years, unable to do anything without blowing something up." He swept out the door, cloak billowing behind him, turning the conversation from the Potter boy to himself. Once again, his was leaving gave everyone else a chance to bitch about him in peace.

ooooo

Ron wondered why Madame Pomfrey had rushed off before telling him anything about why he had been in here for a week. His head ached as he tried to remember how he had gotten here in the first place.

It was then that he saw his mother rushing over towards him, a worried look upon her face. It must be bad. Parents only ever came to the school when someone had died. He then realised that it was the holidays, and his dread increased even more. Molly came over to his side, sat down on a chair beside him and began fussing with his covers and smoothing his hair. Ron found he couldn't even get up the energy to get indignant about it.

"What's happened mum?" Ron asked.

"Oh darling," Molly began, and tears started to run down her face. She grabbed a handkerchief from her pocket and wiped at her eyes. "It's your dad, dear. He was killed by Death Eaters at an attack on the Ministry last week." It was all she could get out before bursting into tears again at the loss of her beloved husband. Ron stared at her in shock, and tried to ignore the tears that were beginning to form in his own eyes. His mind somehow put two and two together and surmised that he was in here due to that attack himself.

"Mum?" He asked quietly, "Why am I in here?" he continued, dreading the answer.

Molly just looked at him and burst into tears again, which started to get Ron even more anxious. "Mum?" Molly gathered herself together brusquely and wiped her eyes. She then took her son's hand in hers and looked at him with a mixture of great sadness and pride.

"When the Ministry was attacked, as you may or may not remember, you went to join in the fight. You stood beside your father and held your own against the Death Eaters, until their numbers just became too vast and a curse broke through your shield. Luckily, it was knocked off course and only hit your leg." Here, she paused, trying to think of a way to phrase the next part so it didn't hurt him as much. "It was a upper-level dark arts curse, one that none of us knew the counter for. We tried everything we could to stop its spread, but in the end we had to amputate."

Ron stared at her in shock and anger. Why couldn't they counter it? Snape would surely know how! He then realised that he didn't even know what the curse was. He seethed for a moment before coldly looking at his mother.

"What was the curse?" He demanded quietly as he stared at the anxious face of is mother.

"It was as degenerative flesh eating curse, which works away at the skin before moving in towards the tissue and the bone. We had to amputate before it got any further than you knee." Molly told him quietly, looking at the angry face of her son. "We did the best we could do, dear, but at least it didn't get you in the chest where the Death Eater aimed, because you wouldn't be here today if it had. I don't think I could cope with another of you gone." She then burst into tears again and grabbed her son and pulled him into a tight hug, trying show her love in any way she could. Ron accepted the hug, but in his mind he was seething at the injustice of it all. Seventeen and he was going to have to get a fake leg and be a freak like Mad-Eye Moody.

When Molly pulled away again, she decided that it would be a good idea to get his mind of his injury with the good news of Voldemort's demise.

"At least I have some good news to tell you now, though, because just tonight Harry killed You-Know-Who! Isn't that great, Ron?"

Ron was relieved that the Dark Lord was dead, but now Harry was going to get all the glory, wasn't he. Never mind everyone else that helped him, it would be all 'Praise Harry Potter, Defeater of You-Know-Who!' It was too much for Ron to take in, as his best friend would be getting all the attention and he would be the injured and forgettable sidekick. A storm cloud seemed to cross Ron's face, but to hide what his true thoughts from his mother, he merely said "He got what he deserved", as the bastard's minions had done this to him, and he didn't deserve life.

"Yes. He did, didn't he." Molly agreed firmly, glad that the _thing _that had torn apart her family was dead. Molly however was also thinking of how proud she was of Harry, as she felt as though he was another of her boys.

Before his mother could start singing the praises of Harry, Ron decided to cut her off by feigning tiredness, although the news he had just received had awoken him better than a gallon of pepper-up potion.

"Mum, I'm tired okay? I think I'll just go to sleep again now." He said, turning his head away from her. He shut his eyes and waited until she had left his side before staring up at the ceiling and fuming at all he had just found out.

ooooo

Once Minerva had left the oppressive atmosphere of Grimmaud Place, she apparated into the foyer at St Mungo's. She hadn't seen the place this hectic and busy since the last war, if it had even gotten this busy then. There wasn't one huge big battle last time, merely small, fear inspiring attacks that occurred randomly, if not regularly. No, the hospital had never been this busy before.

She made her way swiftly past the information desk, and the nurse that was about to call her back noticed the distinctive emerald robes and tight bun and let her former teacher pass by unescorted. It had been years since the former Hufflepuff had been in her classroom, but she still deferred to her authority out of a good seven years of habit. Minerva made her way up the stairs until she reached the ward in which Albus was recovering, from internal bleeding stemmed from extended exposure to the Cruciatus curse, and magical exhaustion. The guards standing outside of the doors to his private room gave her a few good _finite incantatum _'s and the new counter-polyjuice potion that had been developed under the pressure of the war. Snape had been working on it in his spare time (not that he had much of it) and once it was acknowledged it would earn him not only a lot of money for the patents, but grant him the acclaim he had been wishing for for years, to counter his reputation as an evil Death Eater.

After it had been confirmed that yes, it was her, not one of Voldemort's remaining minions, she passed through the standard hospital swinging doors and went to Albus' bedside. He looked older than she had ever seen him before. The creases in his face and the fragile skin of his hands was accentuated by the fact that he was not wearing gaudy robes with matching animated hats, and his eyes were not open to distract you from his age with their regular twinkle, however much it had been dimmed these past months. At least the weight of responsibility for helping the world rid themselves of Voldemort's menace could now be lifted from his shoulders. But she didn't want to have to burden him with the news of Harry's turning. The headmaster would take it personally and the weight of the news would weigh just as heavy as his previous burden, as he would blame himself for that which he could do nothing to prevent.

She sat by his side for nearly an hour before he began to stir, and grabbed a glass of water and his glasses to give him when he came to. He placed the glasses he felt in his hand on and looked to see the emerald blur coalesce into his deputy headmistress. She handed him the water and he gratefully accepted the offer. Before he could begin to query Minerva, she decided to tell him what she knew.

"The good news is that Harry has killed Voldemort, Albus, so you needn't worry about that. We have most of the Death Eaters, and have killed all of Voldemort's creatures as well. However, there is bad news too." Here Minerva closed her eyes and straightened her back further as though it could bring her strength. "Charlie Weasley was killed, as well as four Aurors. And, though I hate to be the one to have to tell you, Harry has been turned."

At these words the look in Albus' eyes made you wonder if the twinkle would ever be able to make a return appearance.

ooooo

Draco woke up and was suddenly assaulted with way too much light. The white paint of the hospital wing was reflecting the sun from the window and all he wanted to do was turn around and go back to sleep before he remembered why he was in here.

Alas, what Draco wanted rarely came into the equation, and the he started to recall the events leading up to his sojourn into Madame Pomfrey's domain. Before they could get any further, however, he placed a blank wall up to prevent the memories from overtaking him. It just wouldn't do to break down in public.

Just then Madame Pomfrey bustled up to him and started clucking disapprovingly, before sitting him up to pour foul-tasting potions down his throat. He gave a grimace a retching sound after he swallowed the last potion, and the matron glared at him before her gaze softened and she patted his head.

"I know they taste awful but they'll do you a world of good. No one should be hit with that at your age, dear. Now, I'll have to keep you here until lunchtime for observation but then you should be right to go." Draco swallowed nervously at this statement, wondering just where he would stay until school began for his final year.

ooooo

Hermione sat staring out of the window of her second floor bedroom at the street lined with terraces and wondered how it was that she was stuck here in the middle of muggle London while a war was ranging in the world she now belonged in. She despaired at ever getting any news of what was going on, as her parents weren't letting her get any owl mail. It felt so unfair that her parents had made her stay at home when they found out about the war, rather than actually letting her be useful and helping Harry and Ron like she usually did. How she regretted finally informing them of the severity of the political situation in the wizarding world. When they found out the Death Eaters reason for existence was the extermination of muggle born, her conservative muggle dentist parents had refused to let her out of her room and back to Hogwarts when she had come back for the summer holidays. Never mind that she was only a month or so off being of legal age in the wizarding world, they wanted to 'keep her safe', and in doing so, were driving a wedge into their already strained relationship.

Since Hermione had gone to Hogwarts, she had grown quite far from what her parents had expected of her. Despite, or perhaps because of the fact that she had consistently been top of her year academically, and was now forever entrenched in the world of magic, they argued over nearly everything. Her parents wanted her to go to university and train to become some kind of health practitioner, while Hermione just wanted to work at the Ministry as an Auror or an Unspeakable. These expectations that her parents placed upon her just didn't consider the fact that magic was an integral part of who she was, and that she wouldn't be returning to the muggle world once she left school. She was a powerful witch, and that they ignored this and locked her in her room to 'protect' her seriously pissed her off. Bloody Underage Restrictions on Magic. She didn't know what was happening, if Harry and Ron were still safe, or if Voldemort had fallen. She just had to get out of here. She finally understood at least some of what Harry had experienced at the Dursley's all these years, but at least she still had access to her books, there wasn't anything else to do to pass the time in here but read. She actually cursed the fact that she had an ensuite, as it meant she could only leave her room for meals. The one good thing that she didn't begrudge at this point in time was her stereo. Over the various holidays she had amassed quite a large CD collection that she sorely missed while at Hogwarts. Maybe she could find a way to charm electrical appliances to work near magic? That could earn her a fancy dollar with muggle borns like her and get her a deposit on a flat somewhere near Diagon Alley.

What she really needed to do now was work out how the hell she was going to get out of here and get back to Hogwarts to help everyone out. If she could convince her parents that she was coming around and allow them to think she'd go to uni, she might be able to get to the bank to take out her money. She had enough in her private account to get her through a month or two, as she'd saved up her allowance for years, unable to really go shopping or anything all that often while she was at Hogwarts, as boarding schools were not all that well suited to going out on a weekend to see a movie, and she was always studying or trying to prevent Voldemort from killing Harry to really have all that much recreation time. Not that she really minded or anything. If she could withdraw the money, she'd be able to make her way back to where she really belonged, Hogwarts.

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	3. The next stage of everything

**To my darling viewers, I thank you again. You make me want to keep writing.**

**I'm not quite happy with this chapter but I'll post it anyway- its more of a transition chapter than anything.**

**Just a little warning- there is a mention of femmeslash in this chapter- nothing graphic will ever be in this story, but PG rating Ginny/Tonks is here as a sub pairing. Their relationship will definately take second seat to the bliss that is Harry/Draco slash goodness. **

**Chapter Three**

Severus walked towards the infirmary with his robes billowing in his trademark style behind him. Wasting his time, yet again, on the insufferable attention-seeking brat by the name of Potter. Yes, kudos for getting rid of his 'Master', but really, he couldn't even do that without creating a whole lot of unnecessary drama. As Severus passed through the doors, and saw the others assembled that were also doing this blasted ritual, he wished he had fortified himself for the Gryffindor reunion with another shot or ten of Firewhiskey. The idea that he was _volunteering_ to spend time with them in order to see if he would have to deal with Potter's incompetency in Potions again during NEWT year.

Lupin and Bill looked blankly at the walls, obviously not having taken the advice of getting some sleep, but lain awake mourning Charlie. He could see the tear tracks down Molly Weasley's face and felt sympathy for the poor woman, husband and son killed within a week, and yet another maimed for life. Now she was here to see if she had lost the all but legally adopted member of the hoard.

Minerva motioned for the potions master to join them, and began to address them all.

"You all know why we're here, and how imperative what we shall do tonight works. The ritual we will be performing on Harry is actually an ancient curse, but if we do it now it will be more of a blessing. This curse has lain forgotten for centuries in a book in the restricted section, and we wouldn't have known about had it not been for our esteemed Miss Granger's addiction to extra credit assignments. Miss Granger was researching ancient forms of magic for charms, to see how they had affected the way we use our magic today." Here, she paused and peered down over her spectacles.

"This curse was made by a vampire, believe it or not, who was a witch before she was sired. She discovered that her lover was cheating on her with her worst enemy, and decided to create this spell of sorts to exact revenge. The spell works to draw the soul of the vampire back from the underworld and replace it to them, bringing back emotions such as compassion, empathy and love. Most of all, it calls back the conscience, and brings with it an oppressive sense of guilt for the actions they have perpetrated as a vampire. In the original case, the cursed vampire went insane and tied himself to a crucifix outdoors at dawn and waited for the sun to arise and kill him."

The group that were gathered at the infirmary sat in silence as what Minerva had said sunk in. Most were thinking her somewhat insane. Minerva pulled herself straighter and adjusted her glasses before continuing.

"You all think that I am insane for mentioning this, but the insanity will not affect Harry, as we shall perform this spell before he has killed anyone out of bloodlust, so the overwhelming guilt will not affect him. He will merely be in possession of all his emotions and thought processes, preventing him from hunting down and killing people."

At this, Molly Weasley started sobbing uncontrollably. Bill went over to comfort her and muttered in her ear for a little while as everyone else sat by awkwardly, except Severus, who wished he were getting drunk in the comfort of his own home. A few moments later Molly got herself under control and raised her tearstained face so that everyone could see the look of determination on her face.

"Well, what are we waiting for?" She said in the brisk tone usually reserved for getting the twins in line. "Lets start on this so that nothing more will happen to the boy. He's been through enough and I'm going to do everything in my power to see that he doesn't go through more than he needs to with this change." She then stood up and quickly walked over to the door to Harry's isolation ward. After hearing the Weasley mother speaking in that tone, the rest of the motley crew stood and followed her into the room.

Once they entered the room. Minerva passed a basket of red candles to Bill and took a basket of white for herself. She gestured towards a basket of black candles then looked at Severus, who duly picked it up, thanking that he didn't need to use the white. If any of his students had seen him at the time they would've been struck dumb at seeing him carry a wicker basket.

The mood then turned sombre as they looked towards the pale figure prone upon the white hospital bed in the centre of the room. Harry's black hair stood out starkly against the deathly pallor of his face, and everyone realised just how much life his green eyes leant him. The absence of their sparkle was unnerving.

"The candles need to form a series of circles around the bed. Black on the innermost sphere, then red, then white." Severus and Bill went to place their candles in their allocated spaces as Minerva continued.

"Remus and Molly you stand on either side of Harry. As you two are the closest and most parental to him you should have a better chance at reaching out to his soul and bringing it back. For this spell to work, while Tonks, Bill, Severus and I stand at the corners and chant the invocation to make an opening into the world of Ether, you will call to the Guardians to ask for the return of Harry's soul. This may be difficult, as the Guardians of the Ether do not like to part with their charges. Remus, your presence should placate James and Lily. Molly, your presence should help to command their acquiescence as Harry's mother figure."

As everyone moved into their given positions, Minerva lit all the candles surrounding them in a bust of flame. The book that the spell was found in was passed to Severus, Bill and Tonks, who memorised the words they were to chant. Molly and Remus were then handed the tome and read what they were expected to do. As soon as they had a better understanding of their task, they put down the book, and the others started to chant in Latin.

Remus and Molly linked their left hands over Harry, and as one pointed their wands upwards and began to speak.

"To the guardians of all we hold dear, we beseech thee

To the holders of he who belongs here, we plea

Return to us the soul of our lost one

So he may garner what he deserves

Return to us the soul of our lost one

It is his, not yours to hold."

At this, the four around the circle began chanting louder, their steady calls opening a portal in the mist that have gathered above the circle. A roaring sound could be heard crying in the swift wind that was now circling in a whirlpool around the bed. A strangled yell was heard and the flames on the candles rose to the ceiling, encircling them in a wall of wind and flame. Molly and Remus struggled to keep their hands joined above Harry, and the roar of the wind drowned the chanting of the others out.

Just as suddenly as it had started the wind stopped. The flames from the candles making the black and red circles died and those on the white flickered down to a normal flame. Everyone in the room stood entranced by the faint golden glow emanating from their charge in the bed between them. A few moments later, Severus broke the reverie with his melodious, yet caustic voice.

"I take it that we have finished the spell, then? Gotten Potter out of another mess once more?" He raised a wry eyebrow, and when no one replied swept out of the room, his robes fluttering behind him as always. Remus raised an eyebrow of his own as the Potions master left the infirmary, with his werewolf hearing he could hear Severus muttering about how he had to get back to his first "Post-Voldie Bender", and why couldn't he just get drunk in peace.

ooooo

Ginny, as usual, was out of the loop. She hated being out of the loop, but the fates had decided that once more it was where she was going to be. Since her father had been killed and Ron wounded in the Ministry attack, she'd been kicked out of where she had been happily abiding at 12 Grimmaud Place, and packed off to the Burrow. It had been hidden under the fidelus charm with only her mother and Bill knowing where it was, as the Order's HQ were not deemed safe enough.

This irked Ginny more than it usually would, as it meant there was no way of finding out anything about what was going on other than what she heard on the Wizarding Wireless Network, which was less reliable than the _Daily Prophet_. And that was saying something. It also meant being away from, and unable to hear how her Nymph was. Her family, for a change, were out of the loop on that one. Only Hermione knew that Ginny even liked Tonks, but no one knew about what had developed between them since the beginning of the holidays. The war had begun in earnest, and while Ginny had to stay at Grimmaud, at least she found out the gist of what was happening. It was a few days after Ginny's sixteenth birthday when Nymph had hurried up to the room they were sharing and uncharacteristically collapsed onto the bed crying. Ginny had just held her until the sobs had stopped wracking her body, and found out that Kinsley Shackelbolt, whom had been like a brother to Tonks, was killed in front of her by Death Eaters on a raid. The comforting had turned to kissing and their relationship had developed, however clandestine, since then.

The age gap wasn't too fierce, Nymph was just 23 and although Ginny was 16, and Ginny had been through enough to ensure a maturity that was beyond her age. They all had, being in a war was enough to age anyone beyond their years. But Tonks, her little Nymph, had somehow retained her youth (if not her innocence) much more than the rest of them, bringing them on an equal maturity footing of 20 years or so.

But their age gap wasn't what was worrying Ginny at the moment. She had just heard on the Wireless that Voldemort had been vanquished, but it gave no details and left Ginny even more worried than she was before. If the final battle had occurred, there were sure to have been casualties, and Ginny had far too many people that she cared deeply about fighting against the bastard. Her mother still hadn't gotten back from seeing Ron back at Hogwarts, and Ginny was worried sick. What if something had gone wrong with his recovery? What if one of her other brothers was in there? (She included Harry in that part of her worry-list) What if her Nymph hadn't been able to make it through? The ghoul in the attic seemed to sense her turbulent mood and began clamouring on the pipes louder than she had ever heard it do before.

It was then that Ginny remembered the clock. The family clock. She ran downstairs faster than the time that Fred and George had decided to let go the flock of doxies they had collected at Grimmaud Place and had them chase after her. She spun quickly around through the door from the kitchen to the lounge room and had to grab hold of the doorframe to stop herself from falling over. She didn't know where this sudden sense of urgency had come from but she followed her instinct nonetheless.

Fred and George's hands were both set on "celebrating", her mother's and Bill's on "none of your business!" Percy's wasn't on the clock anymore, It'd been taken off after the infamous falling out and Ron's was on sleeping. Ginny fell to her knees when she noticed that Charlie's hand had faded until it was almost invisible, just like her father's had after he had died earlier that week. She tried to ignore the fact that tears were running down her face, tried to ignore that Charlie's hand was fading from view before her eyes. And then his hand was gone, and there were only six hands left on the clock.

It was then that Ginny collapsed on the ground and cried for what seemed like the hundredth time that week. Ginny hated war.

ooooo

Hermione had finally convinced her parents that she had had a change of heart. It had taken the best part of a week, but it worked nonetheless. The room to her door was no longer locked and she had been allowed out of the house, with a nice sum of money, to shop for some clothes (or books) while her parents were out at work. She packed up all her Hogwarts stuff, some clothes, her CD's and Discman and wrote a note for her parents not to go looking for her, and made her way over to the Muggle Bank near Charring Cross Rd, and withdrew all â‚10,000 that she had saved over the years and quickly made her way past the fancy bookstore on the corner and into the Leaky Caldron. Once she got into the wizarding section she garnered a few strange looks in her muggle attire, and a few people seemed to be trying to remember where they had seen her face, but she rushed through before they recognised her as one of Harry Potter's best friends, and supposed girlfriend. Like Harry would have time for a girlfriend when he's out trying to save the world. Really. She walked as quickly as she could with her luggage down Diagon Alley towards Gringotts, passing through the doors purposely before walking straight to one of the counters. The goblin behind it was sitting there, greedily fondling a pile of galleons and did not seem very interested in her.

"Excuse me" Hermione said in her best McGonagall impersonation, which was admittedly marvellous. It certainly worked on every student she had ever met. Except the Slytherins, that is. Apparently, this goblin would not have been sorted into the house of the silver and green, and it looked up straight away and eyed her beadily.

"I would like to exchange some money, if you please. May I ask what the current rate of exchange for muggle currency is?"

The goblin took in her serious demeanour and polite yet direct way of speaking with an experienced eye. He wouldn't be able to rip this one off. Not that he wanted to, she seemed to be one of the rare breed of witches that didn't think of goblins as either gross or inferior. The two then proceeded to talk business for five minutes or so and reached a suitable agreement. He would open up an account for Hermione and she would then get the house rate for exchange, where the â‚10,000 would be 8000 galleons, and the goblin would take a 50 galleon handling fee for opening the account and exchanging the money. This was also for looking over the fact that she was underage and didn't have the approval of a guardian.

When Hermione walked into the busy Diagon Alley ten minutes later she felt a great deal better than she had all week. She had her own little golden key for her own vault now, and could start her independent life as a witch in only a few weeks. She walked back out into Muggle London with a smile on her face and grabbed the underground to King's Cross Station. She made her way to Platform 9 ¾ and looked to see when the next train would be. She had an hour to wait, so she settled herself down and waited for the train. She was where she was meant to be. Where there was magic.

ooooo

The sights were flashing in split seconds, from the beginning to the end, pulsing as he felt himself come into being. Snippets from the life of his sire and her sire and their sire before, continuing until he was almost overwhelmed, but not quite. Never too far from awareness, how could he be with these visions pulsing ceaselessly throughout his being, making him over again, giving him an innate knowledge of strength, an innate knowledge of frailty.

Just before this knowledge left him crazy, he felt a golden glow encasing his body, giving him a knowledge of himself in all these new visions, stopping him from getting drawn too far into something that he wouldn't be able to get out of again. He was strong, but he was safe. This was until he looked into his own memories, having forgotten them in the sensory overload he had experienced over the past hours. He saw his childhood, being shunned and feared by everyone around him, saw his first days at Hogwarts- the safety and the danger- and then he saw the last year.

He saw the training he had in Defence, and in the Dark Arts. He saw how he felt so alone even when surrounded by hundreds of people. He saw Ron and Hermione finally getting around to the snogging part of their relationship. He saw the showdown at the ministry, and watched again as Arthur went down in a flash of green light, and how his best fell to a dark curse again, for him. He saw himself as he went to get his muggle shotgun from an unsuspecting store with his invisibility cloak, and the rounds of ammunition he had gone through in target practice, getting ready for the final showdown.

And he saw the final shot, the one that ended it all.

With that Harry sat up in his bed, his eyes wide open once more.

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	4. Conversations and Revelations

**Sorry for the wait, but I'm back at school so I'll only be able to update weekly from now on. Unless I get inspired by heaps of reviews or something. This chapter is a good 1000 words longer than usual anyway so I hope that makes up for the wait. The slash is coming; it'll just take a few chapters now. And there will be a whole lot more Draco POV as the story goes on. **

**Oh, mentions of Ron/Hermione in this chapter, but they won't be an important feature of this story. **

**I'd also like to thank my lovely reviewers, ****Altariel Eldalote, ****NettieT**** and Immortal Memories. Your suggestions and encouragement is what has made me keep on with the story.**

Chapter Four 

Harry looked around the room he was in and was surprised at what he saw. Well, surprised at the fact he could see, as he wasn't wearing his glasses. Just as soon as he noticed this he noticed the smell- the potions beside his bed were giving off an intense and earthy aroma, and a hint of something magical. He couldn't quite tell how he could _smell _magic, but he could. And then he heard brisk footsteps coming towards him, from the other side of the infirmary. It was then that Harry realised that he must have somehow received improved senses. He heard a familiar sneeze and realised that Ron was still bedridden.

The footsteps then reached the doorway to the room he was encased in, and the nurse opened up the door separating Harry from the rest of the castle. Madame Pomfrey saw him awake and gave a surprised little jump. She performed a quick little charm in his direction with a small frown on her face, and when satisfied with what she saw ran up to him and gave him a tremendous hug.

"Oh you're alright! I was so worried! But you're okay and everything is alright again! Thank-you so much, I'm so proud of you for vanquishing You Know Who! And what were you thinking, getting into trouble just as soon as you'd gotten out of the last batch!" The nurse rapidly exclaimed, not noticing the shock present on Harry's face that a) she was hugging him, b) that she sounded like she had cast sonorus on herself, and c) that she seemed to be channelling Mrs Weasley.

"Madame Pomfrey!" Harry said as soon as he heard her pause for breath. "What do you mean getting into trouble? The ministry shouldn't be causing any problems, they barely exist anymore."

Here Poppy broke away from Harry and stepped back into her usual stern demeanour. "That one is for one of the Professors to tell you, dear. You stay here and drink those potions and I'll go and get someone to explain what has happened to you."

"This doesn't happen to have anything to do with my heightened senses does it?" Harry responded, hoping to get a little bit more of an explanation before she hurried off.

"Yes, it has. Now be patient, I'll have the Professors in here in just a moment." With this she walked quickly out of the room and closed the door behind her. Harry got up out of his bed and looked around for something to change into, his skin was protesting to the discomfort of hospital linens and the dirty clothes that he was wearing during the battle. Somehow, he hadn't ended up in the hospital's horrible pyjamas. He didn't see any clothes around, however, so he searched his pockets for his wand, and once finding it, proceeded to spell his clothes clean. He'd have to wait until later to shower and wash properly. Just as he was about to get impatient and spell his way out of the room he heard McGonagall and Snape heatedly discussing something in low voices as they made their way towards where he had lain for the last few days. They stopped talking just before their words became discernable from the earlier murmur. Harry went and sat down on the bed once more, and leaned up against the headboard.

As McGonagall and Snape walked in, he saw McGonagall's lips un-purse for a second, and Snape's stride falter imperceptibly before his glare became impossibly more pronounced than it was when he walked in the door. Little did Harry know that these were signs of shock as they saw just how attractive Harry had become as a vampire. His pale skin seemed to glow with a strange light, the dark pink of his lips standing out against it. His raven hair framed his face before just skimming the top of his shoulders. But what drew the most attention were his vivid green eyes—the colour of the curse that changed his life—filled with knowledge and wisdom beyond what should be seen in the body of one who is only almost seventeen and would never age again.

Harry waited for them to sit down on the two chairs near his bed. However impatient he was, he could sense their nervousness and decided to endure the tense time before they could inform him of what was going on. Harry had his suspicions but was repressing theses ideas on the hope that there was some other less drastic reason for the changes he had undertaken. He thoroughly ignored the fact that he could sense the heartbeat of the others in the room.

Severus however didn't feel like enduring the tense silence, as he'd used up enough patience in Death Eater meetings and classes involving Longbottom to last him a lifetime. Minerva would be sure to drag it out and be tactful, but that would just piss Potter off—and he didn't want a peeved and powerful young vampire to deal with.

"Mr Potter, you seem once more to have caused disorder and trouble without doing anything but existing. Once you shot the Dark Lord in the head, a vampire decided to take a little journey to your jugular and then turned you into one of their kind. It may have been one of the Dark Lord's nefarious plots to screw you over, or your infamous luck may have simply run out. A ritual was performed before you rose which ensured you would not be strutting arrogantly killing people whilst you lacked your soul. It has been returned to you so now you must take control of your actions and instincts to prevent yourself from wallowing in guilt and self-pity." Severus stopped is diatribe at this point, having fully expected Potter to interrupt him by this point. Minerva glared at him as though saying 'really!' but he could tell she was glad she didn't have to deliver the news herself.

Harry sat on the bed silently, uncomfortable that his assertions were true. He was glad that he had somehow been granted his soul so that he'd be able to at have at least some moral control over his actions. It also explained the strange hunger that had almost overtaken him since people had entered the room. One of the things that stopped him from feeding was the fact that he didn't think himself capable of sticking fangs into either strict professor's necks. It kinda disturbed him that he was less repulsed by the thought of Snape's neck than his head of houses.

He could sense the rooms other occupants becoming nervous at his lack of response, so he nodded and looked at Snape, indicating he wanted him to continue.

"I will be able to provide a potion for you that with suppress your need for blood for a longer time than usual. It works to keep the nutrients from the blood regenerate themselves for a short amount of time. Unlike muggles that have been sired, you will be unable to substitute human blood with animal blood, as you need human blood to keep up your magical stores. The potion will last for up to five days if you feed from a witch or wizard. It is advisable that you feed of someone magical because they can drink a blood replenishing draught so that the blood loss will affect them much less than a muggle."

Harry took all this information on board and wondered why where he would find a muggle to feed off anyway when McGonagall interrupted his train of thought.

"I suggest that you find a willing donor for this as it would make things a great deal easier. You will be given your own room in the dungeons, as you are now extremely sensitive to sunlight. Until we give you further indication you will not be able to venture outdoors on clear days. If the day is very overcast you will be able to journey outside but you must be very careful. I would not recommend it." She said.

Severus then handed Harry the potion, informing him it would only last two days because he had yet to feed. Harry downed the potion and grimaced at the taste, wishing that particular sense were not also improved. Poppy walked in soon after and nodded her head in approval at the empty vial in his hand.

"Good, good he knows now so you had best be off. Its time for Harry to get some rest!" Poppy admonished as she tried to shuffle the visitors out of the room.

"Wait," Harry interjected, "I wouldn't mind knowing how everyone else is. The cruciatus didn't get to Dumbledore did it? Isn't he usually the one to show up in the hospital wing after one of my near-death experiences?"

McGonagall gave Harry a reassuring smile, and said "No, he'll be alright, he's just resting up in St Mungo's. There has however been a fatality," she paused for a moment to collect herself, wondering how many times she would have to deliver this news. "Charlie Weasley was killed in the battle. Everyone else you know is relatively uninjured, nothing a few days of rest won't fix."

Harry rested his head against his hand and allowed himself to feel the pain of grief for a moment before wrapping it up and sending it to sit with a pile of similar emotions that he had packed away during the course of his life. He looked up again to see the three elder Order members looking down at him. "What about Ron? How is he recovering?"

"Oh he's doing as well as can be expected, and he woke up yesterday afternoon. He should be out of bed in a few days, and then I'll keep him here for a few days to get used to his prosthetic leg. Minerva has transfigured one for him that will do just perfectly."

"Can I go see him now?" Harry queried, wanting to see how his best friend was going.

"I'm sorry dear, but it's light out in the main ward and he can't come in here so you'll have to wait until tonight." Poppy replied. "Now you rest up for a while so the Professors can get your new room sorted out."

With that, the three walked out of the room and shut the door behind them. Harry wondered if he would ever lead a normal life. What, with the growing up in a cupboard and the parselmouth abilities and the evil megalomaniac overlords setting out to kill him he contemplated what it was that made him irrevocably different from everyone else he knew. Maybe he just didn't know enough freaks. With nothing else to do in the starkly white room, Harry decided to take Madame Pomfrey's advice and get some sleep.

ooooo

After Poppy returned to the hospital wing proper, she walked over to the bed that the youngest Malfoy was currently reclining in. Poppy had never seen anyone else able to _recline _when confined to a hospital bed but that was exactly what he was doing. She then decided that if he was able to loll about looking as though he was just about to have barely clothed servants come bearing grapes that it was high time he left her care.

Draco looked up at the matron and dreaded that he would have to leave. He dreaded it not due to some insane and fierce love for the disinfectant scent of the hospital wing or the horrendously scratchy sheets—he abhorred those things. He dreaded leaving because he had no place to go. Ever since—no, he didn't want to go into that. The point of the matter was that he had been disowned and really needed a place to stay for the rest of the summer holidays, as they were only about halfway through. He did not want to think about the state of accommodations that he would be facing if he had to live off what little savings he hadn't frittered away on useless crap, but you don't tend to save money all that much when your family is rolling in the galleons.

Severus looked up at the potion he was quickly making in Poppy's office for one of her patients and seemed to sense Draco's predicament. He walked up to where Poppy was about to dismiss his young godson and Slytherin successor and decided to make his presence known.

"Madame Pomfrey, I have finished making the potion you require, something a third year could have done. Now, will you excuse us as I must talk to my godson. I ensure you he will be out of your care in a few moments." He said in the biting manner he usually saved for imbecilic Gryffindors and Hufflepuffs. Poppy huffed, but ceded to Severus, as he seemed to be suffering the effects of a hangover in combination with a recent encounter with Potter. It was best to let him have his sense of authority so she could deal with her other tasks in peace.

"Draco, I am aware of the fact that you have been disowned and have arranged for you to stay at Hogwarts over the holidays. You will be staying in your new room, as you know, for the seventh year Slytherins get their own rooms. You will also have the bathroom to yourself until term gets in and then I am afraid that your must once again share it with your dorm mates. Do try to stay out of trouble, and make sure you can find the kitchens, as dinner is not served in the Great Hall during the summer holidays. I'm sure the attention of the schools many house elf's will be a mutually beneficial experience. They tend to get quite bored on the holidays, and I'm sure you shall revel in their undivided attention." Here Severus paused and applied one of his most evil and sexy smirks at the look on Draco's face. He seemed to be torn between being disgusted and pleased at the little things attentions, and insulted that Severus would think he'd enjoy their inferior company.

"Why Severus, I didn't think you cared." Draco then replied dryly. "I suppose I am to go to my rooms now?"

"Indeed, Mr Malfoy. Good Day." Severus then swept out of the room and Draco scowled after him. Why couldn't he get his robes to billow just so? Draco then quickly got up and got dressed, glad to have been fully recovered from his injuries. He gave a jaunty wave to Madame Pomfrey just because he knew it would piss her off, and then strode out of the hospital wing and to his new single room as though he didn't have a care in the world.

ooooo

Molly and Bill Weasley flew exhaustedly from Grimmaud Place to the Burrow, the only way they could now get to their home. They found Ginny curled into a miserable little ball at the base of the couch that sat in front of the family clock and figured she didn't have to be told the bad news. She looked up at the whoosh of the floo and found her mother and eldest brother looking at her with deep sorrow in their eyes. Bill walked over and collapsed onto the couch and pulled his sister into his arms. Both Bill and Charlie had had a great sibling relationship with their sister despite the age and logistical gaps. Ginny just clung to him like a lifeline for a while before she looked up to see her mother just standing still, staring at the clock blankly. It was a disturbing sight as Molly never seemed to stop moving or talking. She then turned and looked at the eldest and youngest of her little clan and tears started streaming down her face. She ran to them and pulled them into the famous hug of hers and wished that nothing would ever touch their family like this again. Too fast had it all happened, and Molly didn't think she'd be able to cope.

They stayed like that for a while, just sharing their grief until Molly decided that enough was enough and she went to fetch a cup of tea for them all to salve their weary souls. Ginny then turned to Bill to ask what she had been wondering the whole time since hearing the news and seeing the clock.

"Was there anyone else? Is Harry all right? Is Tonks okay?" She questioned uncharacteristically nervously, fearing the answer. If they were dead she didn't know what she'd do. Bill breathed a mingled breath of relief and apprehension.

"Tonks is totally fine, nothing but a few cuts and bruises. Harry is...okay. I 'spose. At the end of the final battle he was kinda bitten by a vampire, but..."

"WHAT! WHAT DO YOU MEAN 'KINDA BITTEN BY A VAMPIRE'!" Ginny exclaimed.

"Ow, Ginny watch the ear, no need to go all hell demon on me, I'm just the messenger! He is as okay as he can be, we did some wacky ancient spell and got his soul back so he'll pretty much be Normal Harry just with a few super dooper new senses and the need to drink blood a few times a week. Oh, and the whole sun thing, but I think I know a way to get around all that."

"Oh great," Ginny said sarcastically. "So he just needs to drink someone's blood a few times a week. Nobody will think he's the new dark lord or anything. Why do these things always happen to him? Like he didn't have enough shit to deal with."

"GINNY WEASLEY! I DON"T CARE WHAT REASONS YOU HAVE BUT YOU WILL NOT SWEAR UNDER THIS ROOF!" Molly shouted from the kitchen, getting out a bit of her anger at, well, everything really. "AND DON"T SPEAK TO YOUR BROTHER LIKE THAT!" Bill and Ginny just rolled their eyes and laughed at the somehow calming normality of their mother yelling at her children. Calming yelling indeed.

"Well, I have to go see him. Cheer him up and all that. Besides, a bit of Weasley blood will make him an official member of the Weasley clan." Ginny stated, ignoring the disbelieving stare of her elder brother. "What, it's not like I've got a crush on him anymore or anything, he's like a brother—he's family. I'd do it for you so I'll do it for him. And no, I don't care what mum says either." Bill's shocked look turned to one of resignation and defeat as he noticed Ginny's extra stubborn streak setting in.

"You should tell mum. She'll probably be okay with it anyway as it is for Harry. But she'll have a breakdown if she doesn't know where you've gone. Isn't the whole vampiric feeding thing a little sexual for a brother-sister relationship though?" Bill questioned, wondering what was going through his sister's mind.

"Don't worry about that brother dearest, men don't do anything for me anyway." Ginny was kinda nervous as to what Bill's reaction would be, but thought that it was about time she came out to someone in the family.

"Really? I never knew you had it in you. Didn't you have a few boyfriends though?" Bill answered, trying to cover his shock.

"Yeah, they just proved what I didn't want. And don't tell mum about it, I think she still wants me to marry Harry—not that that can happen anymore anyway." Ginny reasoned. She then turned her head towards the kitchen as her mother came out carrying a tray with the tea things perched upon it. Ginny gave Bill a silencing look and moved over so her mum would fit on the couch. They sat and drank their tea in peace before Ginny decided to broach the subject of volunteering her neck to Harry's fangs.

"Mum, I know you're probably not going to like the sound of this, but nothing you can do or say will stop me. I'm going to Hogwarts to let Harry feed from me until he finds someone more permanent."

Molly Weasley wasn't acting the way her children thought she would. She just looked down into her teacup and sat in silence. Ginny and Bill exchanged worried looks and waited for some kind of response. Their mother just nodded her head and looked at Ginny with a fierce and painful love and pride—the last response she had been expecting.

"You're doing the right thing, dear. I know you think I must be mad to be going on like this but Harry is like a son to me and I've lost enough of them as it is, I won't lose Harry too. I'll go owl Tonks and get her to take you there, she's had a chance to rest up now and I'm sure you'd be glad to see her. Bill... I'll need you here to help me prepare Charlie's funeral." Molly squeezed her eyes shut and tried to ignore the pain that was laced in her being where her husband and her son used to be. She then got up from the couch and went to send Errol off to the young metamorphagus.

Ginny and Bill just sat there together, sharing their grief and their pain, and fell asleep on each other's shoulders like they used to when they were little. Both wondered if their family would ever get over their loss.

ooooo

Hermione got off the train at Hogsmeade station and looked determinedly at the castle on the hill nearby. She strode determinedly towards the front gates of Hogwarts. As she made her way towards the entrance doors she wished she could levitate her heavy trunk and charm it to follow her. She set said trunk down when she got to the doors and somehow pushed them open. It was strange not seeing students milling around the entrance hall on the way to meals, classes and various other private rendezvous.

Hermione's reverie was broken when she saw McGonagall walking towards her. "Miss Granger? May enquire as to your presence, I was under the impression that it was still summer break?" Hermione smiled at her favourite professor and told her of the circumstances that had brought her here. Minerva looked down at her young protégée and decided she must inform her at once as to the current situation.

"I am most sorry Miss Granger but you have missed out on all the action. Despite the Ministry falling during an attack, Voldemort was defeated two days ago by your friend Mr Potter. Young Ron Weasley is currently in the infirmary under Madam Pomfrey's expert care, as is Mr Potter. If you wish to see Mr Weasley I may take you up there now, but I am afraid you will have to wait to see Mr Potter. If you would follow me?"

Hermione followed the Transfiguration teacher in a state of shock. Harry killed Voldemort? The ministry had been ruined? Both of her best friends were in the hospital wing? McGonagall opened the door in front of them and led Hermione over to Ron's bed at a nod from Madame Pomfrey. Hermione looked down at her boyfriend and had to contain a gasp as she saw from the shape of the blankets one of his legs was missing from halfway up his thigh. Ron looked up at his girlfriend and gave a strained smile.

"Hey Hermione. Care to fetch me a leg?"

**Please please review; it'll make me write quicker and hopefully better!**


	5. Coming to a point of, understanding?

**Please forgive me for the wait, but the horrid evils of RL and writers block came knocking at my door at the same time coming for a bit of a visit. **

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**I'd like to thank my lovely reviewers, Altariel Eldalote, ironic-humour, CuriousDreamWeaver, Tamielion, bob, Kage Mirai, elvenwolf123321, Immortal Memories, NettieT and Fallen Pheonix 721 for giving me incentive to keep going. No H/D yet, but it will be all the better for the wait. I'ts all on its way...**

**And without further ado...**

**Chapter Five**

Ginny looked up from where she had fallen asleep on the couch when she heard the whoosh of the floo opening and the unmistakable sound of her girlfriend falling over and knocking something down with her. Ginny quickly got up from her comfy position and ran over to her girlfriend and pulled her into a tight hug, which was reciprocated more fiercely than Ginny had expected.

"I missed you Nym," Ginny whispered into Tonk's ear. "I'm so glad you're alive." She turned Nym's head towards hers and pressed her lips softly against hers, giving her a chaste and loving kiss before pulling her upright and taking her to the kitchen. Ginny sat down on one of the chairs and pulled Tonks into the seat beside her.

"Your mum sent me an owl, something about taking you to Hogwarts?" Tonks asked. Ginny nodded, and braced herself for telling Tonks just what she was planning. She was nervous about her response, and not sure if she wanted her girlfriend to get jealous or not.

"Well, I'm assuming you know about Harry going all vampy?"

"Yeah, I happened to be the one who found him on the battleground and got him to Hogwarts." Tonks answered with a shudder. "D'ya know how freaking creepy it was to see him look all dead and stuff and then know that he's up and about almost like normal now? And the spell we did to give his soul back was one big shebang of ancient magics, that's for sure." Ginny took Tonks hand in hers and gripped it to show her sympathy.

"Well, you know that he needs someone to be his, what would you call it—personal blood bank—for a while, and till he finds someone else I want to be that for him. He's like another brother to me, and I've never been able to help him as much as he's been able to help me. He saved me from Riddle back in the chamber and I want to be able to give something back." Ginny waited for a response from her girlfriend, and it she didn't have to wait long.

"D'ya know how dangerous that could be! He doesn't know control yet and I don't want you to get hurt. Plus, isn't him sticking his fangs into you neck just a tad intimate?" Ginny could tell Tonks was getting upset, as her hair was turning black and her hand was shaking in hers.

"Nym, this has nothing to do with me liking him romantically or anything, I got over that silly infatuation when I was twelve. Plus, I trust him not to hurt me. If he's gone to ridiculous extremes to stop me dying before I doubt that he'll do something so stupid as to drain me to the death. Plus, I'll take a blood replenishing draught straight away and I'll be as good as new. And I want you there with me anyway; just to make sure nothing goes wrong. I love you honey and I don't want to lose you over this, but I have to do this for him. He's family." Ginny latched on to her girlfriend and made her look into her eyes as she said this, willing her to see the truth in the statement. Tonks nodded resignedly, but then gave Ginny a sly smile, obviously inherited from the Black side of the family.

"So you love me eh?" She raised an eyebrow at the blush that was staining Ginny's cheeks and decided to do something she hadn't done for anyone before. She turned into her real form. Her cheekbones lengthened and her eyes turned into a piercing blue. Her nose was small and aristocratic, the arch of her eyebrow most elegant and the curve of her lips slightly less pronounced than she usually wore them. Her skin was a creamy shade of milky coffee and must have been inherited from her muggle family, as her mother's side all had a very pale complexion. Ginny both could and couldn't see why she never wore her natural form. She was stunningly beautiful, but the resemblance to the Black family was obvious, and you could easily see she was related to both her aunts Bellatrix and Narcissa.

Ginny took her beautiful girlfriends face between her hands and traced the features with her slightly calloused fingers. She looked into Nym's eyes, leaned in and kissed her softly. "I do," was all that Ginny replied. Tonks smile seemed to light the whole room as she kissed Ginny back. "Me too. Come on; let's get to Hogwarts."

ooooo

Ron looked morosely at his girlfriend with a cross between a grimace and a self-depreciating smile upon his freckled face.

"Ron! What happened to you? How did you lose your leg? When did it happen? _Why _did it happen? Are you okay?" Hermione exclaimed, obviously trying to get all the facts straight before forming a plan to do something about it. Ron smiled his first real smile since being bedridden at his girlfriend's familiar antics.

"Um, repeat questions slowly and one at a time so I can attempt to answer them, please? As you can see, my leg got chopped off after a curse went bad and would've eaten by body up or something."

Hermione grimaced and looked at Ron with sympathy. "When, where, and are you okay?" She repeated so he'd understand.

"A week ago, at the Ministry. I was there with dad for some reason and Death Eaters decided to have a bit of a party. Got hit with some curse, but dad got A-K'd. But yeah, I'm fine." Ron said bitterly.

"Your dad's dead?" Hermione asked in shock.

"Yeah, Charlie is too. Got told yesterday." Ron said stoically.

"Oh that's horrible Ron!" Hermione said with tears in her eyes, and she grabbed him and pulled him into a hug that rivalled Mrs Weasley's.

Hermione wondered if the wizarding world would ever recover from the disastrous effects Voldemort had wrought upon them all.

ooooo

Harry paced restlessly around the small white room. It had been at least twelve hours since he had woken up, and he had slept for six before then. He was starting to feel the effects of the potion wearing off sooner than Snape had predicted and wondered how long he'd last until he went crazy with need.

So he paced. And paced some more, trying to use up the restless energy that was coursing through his veins in the absence of fresh blood. His eyes darted towards the door as he sensed more people entering the infirmary. They paused for a while and he could hear a low murmur of conversation before he heard the footsteps move closer to the room in which he was enclosed. The door was then opened and the unexpected figures of Ginny and Tonks walked through the door and closed it behind them.

"Ginny? Tonks? Why are you here?" Harry said

"Wotcher Harry, no need to get all defensive, we're here to help." Tonks said, her hair a happy and vibrant pink, secured in short pigtails, with a labret sitting beneath her lips. Ginny ran up to Harry and pulled him into a relieved hug.

"You're okay, and yes I know all about the vamp thing and that's part of the reason I'm here now." She proclaimed, pulling back from hugging Harry and looking at him.

"I know you need a temporary blood donor until you find the right person, and I'm here to make sure you don't go off on an unrestrained feeding rampage or something- and don't you even think of refusing me cause I had to talk my mum and my girlfriend into it, okay?" Ginny gave a firm look that had to be inherited from her mother when she saw the expected doubtful look on Harry's face.

Harry was having a dilemma. Here was his willing donor, and his body was screaming at him to go ahead and drink, to take what he needed to keep sane and strong. His conscience was having a hard time of it. Ginny was the sister he never had, and he felt himself responsible for the deaths of her father and brother, as well as the maiming of Ron. He also briefly had the thought that it might be some way to gain his affections, before he kicked his ego and his intelligence in the arse, Ginny had gotten over him years ago—and hadn't she said something about having a girlfriend?

"Girlfriend?" Harry asked stupidly, as it seemed the easiest question to ask at this moment in his befuddled and angst-riddled teenage brain. He seemed quite surprised when both Ginny and Tonks burst out laughing until they could barely breathe.

"Trust a guy to ask about lesbian relationships in an otherwise serious conversation," Tonks said when she calmed down enough to speak. "Though I can't blame him, I prob'ly would too." She added with a sly little smile. With a very surprising speed, Harry put two and two together and smiled, comprehension dawning on his face.

"The two of you?" He asked, and those in question nodded almost shyly. "How long has this been going on?" He asked, forgetting about his current problems in the face of a great curiosity.

"Since just after Kingsley died." Tonks replied, more quiet and sombre than many people had seen her. The grief at the casualties of war surrounded the three, and they were all caught up in their own worlds for a while before Ginny forced herself to get on with what she came here for.

"Now Harry, you have to feed, and I've got my girl here in case anything goes wrong—she is an Auror though and will stop you from hurting me if you get a bit carried away with your first feeding and all." Harry nodded with a strange mix of resignation and hunger.

"Alright."

Tonks gave a quick squeeze to Ginny's hand as she walked up to Harry. He gave her a reassuring smile and went to stand by her.

When Harry bent his head to her neck the pulse beating there was the only sound he could hear. It was all embracing; a primal rhythm that had begun with the beginning of time. His incisors instinctively lengthened and he felt a rush of power as he pierced the flesh waiting to be feasted upon.

As he started sucking the coppery blood he could remember the knowledge he'd gained from his sire when he was turned. The hunt, the kill, the power now encased in his wiry frame. Memories that were not his own flashed through his mind, and he knew they were from the new line he now belonged to, the vampiric ancestors he could now lay claim to. He saw lives that spanned generations, lives that changed history and was almost overcome by the knowledge of his role in it all.

He then felt the golden cord of his soul pull at his awareness and took his head away from Ginny's pale neck. He stepped back and Ginny leant against Tonks for support before she was seated on the bed and handed a vial of blood replenishing potion. She downed it quickly so as to refrain from tasting it too much, and looked questioningly at Harry.

"Are you alright?" Ginny asked.

"I'm the one who should be asking that. I'm sorry, but I got a bit carried away." Harry looked contrite and guilty at this, wishing he'd never taken Ginny up on her offer. He did feel much better for it though, more alive. He'd felt he'd been in a somehow tense daze since he woke up in this infernal room. He couldn't wait to get out of here. The stark white walls were driving him crazy. He then somehow was able to sense the sun setting and wondered if his new room in the dungeons would be ready yet. He thrummed with energy and began pacing the room again, almost forgetting the silent couple sitting on the bed. He suddenly remembered their presence and turned towards them.

"Sorry, zoned out for a bit there. Are you sure you're okay?" Harry asked worriedly. Ginny smiled and nodded.

"Yeah, I'm fine, I'll probably sleep a bit better tonight too, it was kinda tiring. Speaking of such, I think I'm going to go up to the dorms and get some sleep, McGonagall said it'd be alright. Where are you staying, you can get out of here now can't you?"

"Yeah, McGonagall and Snape have set up some rooms in the dungeons to facilitate for my condition. I haven't seen it yet though."

ooooo

Severus waited until Minerva had transfigured up the fittings for the brat's new room near the Slytherin common room down in the dungeon. She nodded her approval at her own work and walked out of the room into a little alcove that would serve instead of a portrait. He checked to see that she had left and with a wave of his wand changed the blatantly red and gold adornments of the room to a deep Slytherin green and silver. If the brat was going to invade his territory he wasn't going to defile it with anything Gryffindor that was for sure. With a smirk that wouldn't look out of place on a cartoon villain, Severus followed Minerva out of the room and sealed the door behind him.

ooooo

Poppy walked into what she had dubbed Harry's room and was glad to find that the Weasley girl was fine. It was under duress that she'd let her in anyway, only her concern about what would happen if Harry didn't feed had convinced her to allow Miss Weasley in.

Harry looked much healthier and more beautiful than ever before. There was an otherworldly, fey light that seemed to attach to his presence, proclaiming his allegiance to the side of light for all to see. She quickly took all this in and proceeded to ignore it, just as a proper nurse should. She glanced at the empty vial in Tonks hand and the colour in Ginny's cheeks and was glad the metamorphagus hadn't spilled it before she could give it to the younger girl.

Another reason she had come in was because the sun had just set, and she thought it would do both Ron and Harry good to see each other. She couldn't count the times she remembered seeing one or the other waiting at their fellow's bedside whilst recovering from and injury caused by one dangerous thing or another.

"Mr Potter, I was wondering if you'd like to go out and see Mr Weasley? I'll just stay here with these two and take Miss Weasley's blood pressure. Well, off you go then Mr Potter, Mr Weasley will need to be getting some sleep soon." Madame Pomfrey shooed him out of the room as Harry had just been revelling in the news that he could get out of there. He hadn't seen Ron since he was put out of action after the ministry debacle. Harry quickly walked towards the bed where he sensed that Ron was, and was surprised and delighted that Hermione was somehow here. He hadn't seen or heard from her since the end of their last school year.

"Ron, Hermione." Harry greeted his best friends as he pulled open the hangings around the redhead's bed. Hermione jumped up and gave him an enthusiastic hug before pulling back and looking at him in awe.

"What's happened to you? You look so different!" And gorgeous, Hermione added silently, neither she nor Harry noticing the glare and scowl combination coming from Ron on the bed. His jealousy was brimming and barely reigned in- he loses a leg and Harry becomes the man of every girl's dreams. Harry just smiled ruefully; glad to see his friends again.

"Hows the leg going Ron? That would really suck mate." Harry said to Ron as he gracefully sat himself down on the edge the mattress. "When did you get here, 'Mione?" He added. Hermione started rattling off the list of events that had lead to her return to Hogwarts and Harry listened on with great interest, noting a few of the parallels between her experiences and his with the Dursleys. He didn't notice how the expression on Ron's face was darkening by the second. When Hermione had finished her near-tirade Harry looked at Ron to see if he'd answer the question.

"Ron?" Harry prompted.

"Oh, yeah, I'm just bloody great. My dad is dead, my brother is dead and I just lost a leg. Of course I'm fucking great." He said bitterly, ignoring the pained and sympathetic faces worn by Harry and Hermione. "What happened to you anyway, did killing agree with you?" Ron said harshly, looking at Harry's now stony face, and ignoring the shocked gasp coming from his girlfriend. A shadow of anger and pain flickered across Harry's eyes until he decided to hit back with news of his own.

"Oh, yeah, I just loved getting killed and turning into a vampire—a great prize for ridding the world of Voldemort don't you think? Immortality for my pains. I'm stoked. I'm frolicking in summer sunshine—oh, hang on, I can't do that anymore, can I?"

Hermione's eyes widened in shock and for once she couldn't speak. For a moment anyway.

"What! How did this happen? When did this happen? Are you evil? You don't seem evil...Explain." Harry almost smiled at Hermione's reaction before he realised that could easily be taken the wrong way.

"I was sired by a vampire just after I shot Voldemort, and—"

"You shot Voldemort? That's what killed him in the end?" Hermione interrupted, intrigued and amused by the irony.

"Yeah, ironic isn't it?" Harry said with a somewhat evil smile. "Back to answering your previous questions, no, I'm not evil. You know that spell you found when researching ancient magics for extra credit for Flitwick? One of the curses in there was adapted to give me my soul back before I went on any killing rampages or anything like that. So I'm not evil, I just have to have willing volunteers to let me feed once or twice a week—Snape can make a potion that suppresses my need for blood to a much more reasonable level. Ginny just donored for me a few minutes ago and yes, she's okay, she's in there with Tonks and Madame Pomfrey and has had a blood replenishing potion so no-one has to worry." At this statement, Ron had had enough.

"What is with you Hermione? Why are you taking his word for this? He's a vampire! He's evil! He just feed off my sister! And you believe him? He thinks he's so fucking high and mighty, killing You Know Who and now he's going to live forever. He's going to be the next dark lord. Stay away from him. And you _Potter, _get away from me and never come near my family or me again."

Harry looked at Ron fuming, and then glanced at Hermione for support. Her eyes were pained, and her glance said to leave her to deal with Ron. He could tell that at least he hadn't lost a friend in Hermione. He looked once more at Ron and seeing a lost cause got up and stormed towards the doors that led from the hospital wing to the rest of the castle. Just as he reached the doors Snape pushed through them, but stopped when he saw a furious vampiric Harry Potter storming towards him. He turned his glare on full power to deal with this newfound irritation—he was meant to be the scariest person in Hogwarts—and forced the Potter boy to meet his gaze.

"Your rooms are ready, Mr. Potter so I suggest," Here he raised an eyebrow "that you follow me. You may as well make use of them now that the inconvenience of getting them ready had occurred. You always must be the exception to every rule, mustn't you Potter." Severus stopped there however when he saw a glower that outsmarted his own sent in his direction and decided to lead the ungrateful youth to his new rooms.

The next year would certainly be an interesting one, despite Severus' heartfelt wishes for a break. He'd have to down a whole lot of Firewhiskey to forget the shame of being out-glared by boy wonder that was for sure.

**Please please review, thats what keeps this story going despite my horrid foe, writers block... I'll be forever greatful, I write this for you so your feedback makes it a better read!**


	6. And the curtain opens

**Many thanks to my darling, darling reviewers, Artemis-Warrior-Goddess, Altariel Eldalote, CuriousDreamWeaver, Alora, Venetus, Kage Mirai, Immortal Memories, Gryffindorgrl186, hotrodunc, sammy, NettieT and kuroneko89.**

**Thanks to you I've completely disregarded any thought of studying for my upcoming exams—not that I mind, as a great procrastinator I thank you from the bottom of my heart.**

**Finally, we get to see a bit more of the boys! Fun is just around the corner, and the more of you review the closer that corner is... so press the little purple button, ask for action, and it will get there sooner rather than later. **

**Chapter Six**

Harry stormed through the door of the Infirmary, fuming over the argument that he'd just had with Ron. If that was how he was going to be, he saw no reason to continue the farce that served as a friendship. He just hoped that he hadn't lost Hermione too, Ron was her boyfriend and she had every reason to stand by him instead of Harry. He ignored the fact that Snape was glowering at him for storming ahead and headed past he great hall and towards the stairs that lead to the potions classroom, thinking that his new room would be somewhat nearby.

"Mr Potter, I suggest that you follow me now instead of walking blind into the dungeons. You happen to be going in the wrong direction, once again." Severus then neatly turned down an almost unnoticeable passageway adjacent to the corridor that lead to the potions classrooms. Harry couldn't remember going this way to the Slytherin common room in second year but acquiesced that Snape would obviously have a better idea of where his room would be. Harry instinctively sent out his senses to take in the details and direction of where he was headed so he could make his way to his room without thinking about it in the future.

Despite his best wishes, Severus was unnerved by the silence and lack of difficulty that were coming from his student. And surprisingly, the seething anger he could sense was not directed at him. He then decided to ignore this and begin an internal tirade that attacked his young charges faults. Ah, the comforting familiarity of habit.

"You had better be paying attention to where we are going as I am not going to show you the way again. Your room in located next to the seventh year Slytherin rooms, which are distanced from the main common room to give the students privacy in their NEWT level studies. Each student has their own room but must share a bathroom. However, your room will not be within the Slytherin dormitory as we feel it would be dangerous to them to have you in such close proximity to them in case you are negligent in taking your potion and must feed. Your room is allocated just here." Severus pointed to an alcove that hosted a statue of a sword with a serpent wrapped around the blade with its head resting upon the sword's hilt. "The password is _perseverance, _you have you head of house to thank for that wonder. Do make sure no harm is done to my students while you are living here. You will come to me at eight o'clock tomorrow morning to learn how to make your new potion, I shall not waste my time this year making yours as well as the wolfsbane. If you make it incorrectly it will not kill you, but I recommend that you learn it quickly or your first detention will be during this vacation. If that is all?" Severus raised an eyebrow and looked at the youth, who merely nodded, and then spun and walked away from where Harry was standing; his robes, as usual, fluttering behind him.

Harry just stood in a state of shock, his anger overcome by the influx of information he had shot at him and by the news that he had his own room with attached bathroom. Curiosity and excitement overcame the whole male teen thing of looking cool and calm and he brushed his hand over the statue guarding his new room.

"_Perseverance" _Harry said, unknowingly in parseltounge, and the sword sank into the stone floor, the wall behind it opening up like the gateway to Diagon Alley, revealing a room set out in deep jade greens and dusted with hints of silver. He walked through the entrance and the wall closed up behind him, leaving him standing in his new haven. There was a Queen size canopy bed against the centre of the back wall of the room, with simple, clean lines in a deep jarrah wood. There was a comforting clutter of rugs on the floor, giving the room a surprisingly relaxed atmosphere for a dungeon. The wardrobe, bedside table and desk all matched the bed, and there was a comfortable looking green cushy armchair with silver threads striping down it, that reminded him somewhat of Dumbledore—despite the fact that it was classily upholstered. There was a bookcase cut into the stone wall above his desk, and a small shelf was dug out above the head of the bed. Harry suspected that McGonagall must have had quite a bit to do with the furbishing of the room, and Snape seemed to have taken control of the colour scheme. Harry was somewhat disturbed by the thoughts of Snape as an interior decorator that were popping into his head, but decided to keep them for when Snape was being particularly nasty to him in class. He didn't think he'd be able to take his professor seriously for a few weeks.

Harry then noted a door on the other side of the room opposite his desk and walked through it into the bathroom. He was glad to see that it wasn't ridiculously opulent, but nicely sized. There was a bath, a shower, a toilet and a sink with a mirrored vanity above it. He was glad that the bath was quite large though, much smaller than the prefect's bath, but quite a bit larger than the normal ones in the dorms. If he looked at it objectively there were definitely perks to being who he was—not that he'd even consider that he had thought that.

Once Harry had explored his rooms and distributed the contents of his trunk around it, he decided to thoroughly go into denial for a few hours about what was going on in his life. He had too much energy from feeding from Ginny (another thing he was relegating to the "I'm not thinking about it" basket) but knew that he had to get into normal diurnal sleep patterns. He then did the only thing that he thought could help to send him to sleep after the events of the last few days, his History of Magic holiday homework.

If someone had looked in the room an hour later they would have seen a beautiful young man asleep upon his covers, a heavy history tome lying beside him on the bed. Yes, Harry was—despite all evidence to disprove the theory—still a seventeen year old, bored to sleep by his homework.

**ooooo**

Draco woke up suddenly at five thirty in the morning after one of the many disturbing dreams he had been experiencing since—well, since after stuff had happened. He didn't bother trying to get back to sleep, he now knew from repeated experience that he'd just be wasting his time and frustrating himself. Instead, he lay back on his bed and stared at the canopy above him, wishing that things were different; that things would be simple again.

Not that things were great when they were simple; they were quite boring actually. Things now were unsettled and Draco did not like it one bit—despite the action and excitement it brought with it.

He laid upon his bed contemplating various and sometimes insanely inane things like 'why are toenails shaped like toenails' and 'I wonder who first invented stairs'. Despite his academic excellence Draco could occasionally be a little daft. When he got bored of boring himself he lazily stretched and headed towards the bathroom that was blissfully free of any other occupants. Taking his time, he leisurely ran a bath and dosed it liberally with mineral salts—the perfect way to start a lazy day. He slipped his black silk boxers his milky skin and hung his embroidered Chinese robe on a hook on the door. When he had settled himself in the water comfortably he soaked until his fingers began to look somewhat prune-ish and hauled himself out of the bath, drying himself off before walking back into his room. He changed into a casual pair of black pants and a simple yet elegant white shirt. He slipped his feet into a plain pair of black kung-fu shoes that he thought were the perfect combination between shoe and slipper. He looked casually in the mirror and ran his fingers through his almost shoulder length silky blond hair, muttering a spell to quickly dry it. The mirror complimented his outfit _'you look smashing darling!' _and he walked to the corridor that led to the Slytherin common room so he could head off to the kitchens to get something to eat.

He passed out from the common room and into the hallway, climbing the stairs to get towards the kitchens. Just as he turned into the main corridor he walked into someone, surprised that anyone was even down here in the dungeons. He looked unconsciously at the firm, lean chest that he'd just come into contact with and stood back, taking in the confident stance accentuated by a trim waistline. He then looked up and was gobsmacked to realise the hot body in front of him belonged to none other than Harry Potter. His midnight hair framed a fey and glowing face, emerald green eyes glinting brilliantly in the soft peaches-and-cream skin. His mouth—oh, his mouth was just begging to be snogged senseless. Draco possessed just enough self-control not to jump the delicious specimen of the male species—and only because he'd never had have lived it down if Potter didn't snog him back. Just as he pulled himself together enough to come out with a suitable snarky remark, Potter quickly brushed right by him, leaving Draco to ogle his arse incoherently.

**ooooo**

After Harry had woken at about eight thirty, he showered and rushed around his new room for a bit, looking for something to wear. He'd changed into a snug-fitting pair of worn blue jeans from the Dursley's as he could now fit into the ones he got in second year. He pulled on a plain black t-shirt and looked into the mirror. The mirror just sighed, then decided that it'd have to give the fella a bit of advice.

_Sweetcheeks, you are one hot piece of wizard kind but you really do need some new clothes, not that your normal person wouldn't have an aneurism just by looking at ya._

Harry raised an eyebrow at his mirror, somewhat disturbed that it had called him sweetcheeks. It also made him wonder whose mirror this had been before it was his. He decided to ignore it anyway, and rushed out of his room, passing through the now open portal and out of the alcove before instinctively retracing his steps from last night. If he was late Snape would be having daydreams of evisceration, and he didn't want to have to see Snape glaring hatefully if he walked in five seconds after nine.

As he was paying attention to his rambling thoughts and not his surroundings, he didn't notice Draco until he walked into him. Harry was overcome by a feeling of need, of want, of lust- a feeling more carnal than any he had had before. He could sense the blood pumping faster in the blonde's veins, making the want to sink his fangs into that pale, slender neck and feed some of that vital life force. Draco's head finally looked up and the lust and shock he could see in those eyes almost made him take the slender, fit young man right then and there. Before he could lose control he swept past the temptation of his rival and walked as quickly as he could to the potions classroom to learn how to make his new suppression potion.

He could tell he was going to need it if he kept running into the hot Slytherin, the need hadn't overtaken him this much since he'd been sired, even when he was feeding from Ginny. He shook his head to clear his thoughts and stepped into Snape's classroom just in the nick of time—Snape looked disgruntled that he couldn't berate him for being late.

"Maybe your change is for the better if it can cause you of all people to be punctual." Snape sneered.

"It is quite convenient that I can be more punctual when getting to a classroom in the dungeon now that I am forced to live here rather than in a tower on the opposite end of the castle. I didn't have to walk down eight flights of stairs and countless corridors to get here, I suppose. I wonder how the allocation of a dungeon bedroom will help me get to my other classes, however." Harry parried belligerently.

"My Slytherins are able to be punctual to their classes so I suppose if you are unable to do so it would merely be reflecting your inferiority. Enough of this, I don't have all day to be teaching you how to make this potion, and I expect you to get it first time—as you should be able to do that if you are even _considering _taking my NEWT level class. The ingredients and methodology are on the board, you will follow them precisely or you will become quite ill when drinking your potion and I'm sure you don't wish to become reacquainted with the hospital wing so soon after your release. Well, what are you waiting for? Gather your ingredients." Snape said, heading towards his desk at the front of the room where a potion was waiting for him to continue the brewing process.

Harry just rolled his eyes and looked at the board to see what ingredients he'd need to grab from the potions store. When he got in there he was pleased that he could remember both the ingredients and the quantities needed, something he'd always had some difficulty with before. He quickly grabbed them and started to follow the instructions faithfully. He sliced and diced and grated and squashed the herbs and—well, bits—quickly and with more ease and precision than before. He seemed to be able to automatically sense when to put each ingredient into the cauldron, and was so caught up in his work that he didn't even notice the incredulous stares that he was getting from Snape. Harry smelled the potion to see if it was ready for the last ingredient, a whole flower of a Lady's Slipper—one of the nicer looking and smelling potions ingredients and dropped the blossom in at precisely the right moment. The potion sparked red and settled to the shimmering burgundy colour specified in the instructions. Harry beheld the potion in wonder, it had to be the hardest potion he'd ever made and he'd made it perfectly. When he looked up he saw that Snape had an expression of shock and wonder on his face—something Harry had never expected to see on his face. Ever.

"I must offer my grudging admiration, that is certainly not an easy potion to make and I did not expect you to be able to complete it correctly. This new skill must have something to do with your transformation. You didn't get any extra memories or skills did you?" Snape asked accusatorily, looking as though he was about to try Legilimency on him.

Harry reluctantly nodded, as it seemed as though he'd made the potion hundreds of times.

"When I was turned it was like I gained this unconscious knowledge from my sire about all sorts of things. I couldn't probably tell you much on the spot, but if I'm put in a situation where the skills or knowledge are needed it just comes to me. The only things I can tell you about my sire are that it was a woman, and that she would be about 300 years old. She comes from a long and powerful line that I am now part of, and in a way bound to. I couldn't really tell you more than that though." Harry said. Snape looked torn between yelling his lungs out and running to the library. What Harry didn't know was that Snape just wanted to go and bury himself in the cocoon of incoherence that is only found in a fine Firewhiskey. Severus feared that at the rate he was going, by the time the year was over he'd be an alcoholic.

"Just bottle your potion and go. There should be enough there to last you a week. I know you have to find someone to feed off today however, --"Severus was then interrupted by Harry.

"Sir, I fed off Ginny Weasley last night. She came to donor for me, with the permission of Mrs Weasley and Madame Pomfrey. I should be okay till Wednesday then?" He asked. Severus just nodded and then looked up.

"Well, what are you doing standing around here then? Out!" Harry walked quickly to the door, carrying his potions with him.

**ooooo**

Ginny and Tonks lay in Ginny's bed having a long awaited lazy morning. Tonks hadn't had a day off work since the threat of Voldemort had become apparent, and with working for the Order in the majority of what little free time she had the opportunity to sleep in hadn't presented itself in about three years. Ginny lay half asleep in Tonks' arms, closing her eyes to the light streaming in the Gryffindor Tower. Tonks watched the light, as it seemed to make Gin's hair dance like flames as it lay in careless waves over her shoulder, just brushing the middle of her back. She smiled as she remembered the night before, nothing but a bit of snogging had happened, but it just felt perfect falling asleep in her girlfriend's arms.

"Morning Nym," Ginny sleepily said, looking up at the Auror. "What'cha doing up so early? It can't be past nine." She added, smiling when she noticed that Nym was letting her true form show.

"You know I'm used to waking up early, so much so that I can't even sleep in anymore, despite the best bed-warmer in the world. Anyway, I want to spend as much of today with you as I can before you have to go home. You are going home aren't you?"

"Nah, I talked to mum and I convinced her to let me stay here to keep Ron company. I wonder how he's going now anyway. I hope Hermione talked him out of that stupid stint we heard the tail end of last night. If anyone can do it, it'd be her."

Just then, the door of Ginny's room opened, and Hermione stormed in looking frazzled.

"Speak of the Devil." Tonks said as she morphed into the form she usually wore, her hair changing to messy bubblegum pink bob with a choppy fringe, her labret piercing making a return appearance. Hermione looked at the two of them lounging around in bed together and was somewhat glad to see that they were both clothed, Ginny in a pair of baggy blue p.j. pants and a white singlet, Tonks in black slip. She was somewhat surprised, but glad that the two had gotten together, Ginny had been harbouring a crush on Tonks since they first met at Grimmaud place the summer after Voldemort's resurrection. She'd tried to deny it by dating a string of guys but it just hadn't worked. Over the years Hermione and Ginny had become confidants in all except Hermione and Ron's relationship, Ginny would get weirded out by Hermione talking about her brother in even a slightly sexual manner. And quite rightly so.

"So you two finally got together, eh?" Hermione said in a somewhat absent manner.

"Yeah," Ginny said, smiling up at her girl. "Start of the holidays." She elaborated for Hermione's benefit.

"What's up? You seem kinda like you want to push either yourself or someone else off a steep cliff or something." Tonks asked.

"Is it Ron?" Ginny prompted.

"Yeah, he's still reading the jealousy and bigotry riot act. Sometimes I wonder what it is I see in him." Hermione sighed, plopping herself down on Ginny's bed and making it quite crowded, as it was only a single.

"He can be a royal git sometimes, can't he?" Ginny replied, sensing her friend needed girly chat time. She looked at Tonks and they settled themselves in for a bitch and moan session rather than the snogging session they'd been looking forward to, wondering if it would ever be possible to have a moment to themselves. Not to worry, they'd find time later, she was sure.

**ooooo**

Draco, meanwhile, was sitting in the kitchens not understanding why he couldn't get the thought to a certain Gryffindor out of his head. The fact that the house elf serving him was none other than Dobby, the Malfoy house elf that Harry Potter had freed, he wondered if he'd ever be able get away from the influence that the green eyed beauty had on the world. And Draco did not just say beauty. Never. He would now go into serious denial, thank you very much.

What Draco didn't know however, was that the certain Gryffindor that he was _not _thinking of was going to start following his newfound instincts very soon. Instincts that screamed for him to make Draco Malfoy his for all time. Instincts neither of the wizards would have the will nor control to resist.

**If the next chapter comes a bit later it would be because I decided revision for exams outweighed writing fic for you guys. Make me change my mind! However, I do apologise in advance if updates are a little slow over the next few weeks. Anyway...**

**Review! Review! Review! It's the least that you can do! For all those reader that don't I'd love to hear your opinions too!**

**Sorry about the rhyming, I got a tad carried away for a while there.**


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